Crossing Over
by A Rozen Dream
Summary: Ayaka is an earth bender and the new Avatar after Korra while she is learning air bending she gets sent to a new world where she comes across one red head with an attitude and a guy that wears a bat hat. Summery bad, story better.
1. Chapter 1

**PROUGLE**

"Gah this is useless!" I shouted throwing my hands in the air "I'm never going to get this"

"Calm yourself Ayako"

"This is pointless, I'm not built for this peaceful life... it's the avatars job to bring peace but how can I do that if there's already peace!"

"It's the avatars job to maintain peace" he corrected

"Oh whatever, I want adventure, life threatening danger and maybe even a wild romance, not all this meditating stuff"

"You underestimate the true value of peace"

"I don't need another lecture" I grumbled "I'm the best earth bender there is, even better than the blind bandit! My fire is nearly just as good, my water isn't bad and my air bending..."

"Stinks?" he added in with a tired laugh

"Bluntly put but yes" I sighed hanging my head

"As opposite as water is to fire so is earth to air, every avatar has trouble learning their opposites"

"Yeah I know they keep telling me that" I sighed hanging my head

"Oh you have talked to them?"

"First thing you taught me remember, when I first came here... over a year ago" I frowned "I only spent a few months everywhere else"

"Always in a rush, here drink this" he said handing me a coconut filled with strange liquid

"What is it? Wait it isn't that banana thing is it?" I asked scrunching up my face

"It will take to a new world where you will learn the true meaning of peace"

"Well... ok here goes nothing"

**CHAPTER 1**

"My head" I groaned sitting up

"You're awake"

"No thanks to you, what did you put in that drink?" I asked swinging my legs over the bed

"I think you have me confused with someone else"

"What?"

I rubbed my eyes and looked around me, this place was defiantly NOT the western air temple and there was so much rock, or more sand around. My eyes widened as I looked for the person I was speaking with, he was standing in the corner wearing all black with some kid of hat on his head that made him look like he had bat ears and there were purple markings on his face.

"Who are you?" I asked jumping out of bed

"Relax, I'm not here to hurt ya" he said moving away from the corner "the names Kankuro"

"Where am I?"

"You're in the village hidden in the sand, you're lucky we came across you, if we didn't you would have died out in the desert"

"Village hidden in the sand? Desert? What are you talking about, where's the western air temple and all the monks!"

"Never heard of it" he shrugged "and you were on your own when we found you"

"Oh god, gotta get back, gotta get back, gotta get back" I chanted over and over as I ran out of the room

"Hey wait!"

I ignored him and continued to run around trying to find a way out of the building, eventually a found a way up to the roof. Nearly falling over at every turn and running into every wall I made it up to the roof only to wish I never did, all around me, for as far as the eye could see was desert, nothing but sand and the hot sun beating down at me.

"This can't be" I gasped

My head felt like it was spinning and before I knew it my body started to fall, I tried to stop myself from falling but all that did was push me over the side of the roof, so now instead of falling a meter or so it was now a few stories. Avatar instincts taking over I quickly turned around and bought the sand up to meet me, it covered me from head to toe slowly descending me to the ground before vanishing back into the ground.

"Whew, that was close" I sighed wiping my brow

I looked up and saw a lot of people staring at me, as if they had never seen the avatar before, no this stare were more as if they had never seen an earth bender before. One person stirred in the crowd and everyone moved aside for them whispering 'kazekage' whatever that meant. A boy looking around my age walked out with a huge gourd on his back; once I got past the gourd I noticed his red hair and dark eyes and that look that dared me to try something.

Unlike the guy from before he was wearing some kind of long red coat with a grey armour plat over top, his arms were folded as he stopped in front of me looking down at me even though we were around the same height. Luckily before any words could be spoken the bat guy from before jumped down next to me making me jump.

"_Did he just jump from the roof?"_ I thought staring at him in amazement

"Hey Gaara" he said casually to the scary looking guy

"You were meant to be watching her" he said not taking his eyes from me

"Yeah she ran off"

"Who are you and why are you here?"

"I'm Ayako"

Nothing, no reaction what so ever, just blank stares from those around me and unimpressed from the scary guy in front of me.

"You know... the avatar..."

Still only blank stares, I couldn't believe this was possible, someone it this world didn't know who I was.

"Well this is new" I said with a nervous chuckle

"What kind of jutsu did you use?"

"Huh?"

"To control the sand" he said getting angry with me

"It's called earth bending... I have no idea what a jutsu is"

"_Well this is awkward..."_

"Why are you here?"

"I have no idea, the old monk gave me some stuff to drink that's meant to 'show me the true meaning of peace' and I woke up here... so umm if you could just point me to the western air temple will be on my way"

"Hey Gaara that isn't one of them temples in the land of ogres is it?"

He stopped staring at me and walked away making me sigh in relief; I still had no idea where to go though.

"You should probably follow him" bat guy whispered to me

"Do I have to?"

"If you don't want to see him angry I would" he explained walking calmly after the red head

"Aww man" I sighed following after them

I felt like I was walking to my doom and thought about just running off and taking my chances in the desert but then we came to a smallish house. After walking in I felt instantly cooler, I didn't burn easy and I was used to the sun but that didn't mean I liked it at all, plus I was still wearing the monk outfit making me twice as hot.

"Make sure she doesn't run off this time" he said before leaving

"Is he always like that?" I asked once he was gone

"Not always..." he answered sounding a little unsure of his answer "did you want something to drink?"

"Sure, thanks... so your name was Kankuro right?"

"That's right" he said pouring me some water

"And the scary one is Gaara?"

"Yeah"

"And I'm in the village hidden in the sand... do you guys leave the village much? Or get any visitors?"

"Sure, Gaara and I only returned from the village hidden in the leaves the this morning when we found you"

"... village hidden in the sand, village hidden in the leaves, what kind of names are they"

"Were also known as Sunagakure or Suna for short, and village in the leaves is Konohagakure, Konoha for short" he explained handing the cup to me

"Oh ok, that's better… still weird but better"

"You said you were an avatar, is that what the top ninja is called where you're from?" he asked sitting down

"Not an avatar, the avatar and what do you mean ninja?"

"You don't know what a ninja is?" he shouted shocked

"I know what a ninja is, they wear black suits and mask and can jump around and they use inner strength to do cool things, I met a few when I was traveling around the earth kingdom"

"Earth kingdom? What's that?"

"What do you mean 'what's that' it's only the biggest of the four nations"

"Four nations? You mean 5 nations right?"

"No I mean 4, the earth kingdom, fire nation, air nomads, and the water tribes"

"I don't know what you're talking about but there are 5, I'll show you"

He grabbed out a scroll and laid it out before me, it was meant to be a map of the world but it was all wrong, completely different to what I knew.

"This isn't right…" I muttered

I reached into my robe and pulled out my own map, since I started traveling around the world I learnt to always keep it tucked inside my shirt just in case.

"_Why didn't I just use this before…. But looking at his map it wouldn't have helped me"_

I laid out mine under him and we both looked at each other confused, two completely different worlds were laid out before us.

"A new world" I whispered "I can't believe it, that old coot sent me to a completely different world!"

"What?"

"I was training under a monk and he made me drink something that would send me to a new world, that's why our maps are different. I'm from this world" I said pointing to my map "but he sent me to yours... well that explains why no one knew who I was"

"So you're not from this world?"

"no and the worst part is I have no idea how to get back to mine... what if something happens while I'm gone... what if a war breaks out, what if I'm need and I can't get back, what if I die here and a new avatar can't be born, what if..." I stopped mid-sentence and let out a sigh "I doubt the world is going to collapse, it's been peaceful for as long as I know"

"What is an avatar?"

"It's a single person who has control over the four elements, earth, fire, water and air"

By the look of his blank face he wasn't getting it.

"Here I'll show you"

Slowly a small amount of sand drifted up from the ground gathering in my hand; once I had enough I started to change the shape of it.

"This is earth bending, it allows the user to control earth, and not just earth either but metal to"

"How did you do that?"

"It's hard to explain really... it just something benders can do, it's as natural to us as walking and talking" I explained letting it fall back into the ground "I was born as an earth bender but because I'm the avatar I have control over all the elements"

Using the cup of water he gave me I started to bend it, making it twist and turn flying in mid-air.

"Give us enough water and we can create tilde waves or water dragons but water benders don't just have control over water either, we can also freeze it" I said turning it into ice catching it in my hand "truly talented water benders can bend water from just about anything, clouds in the sky, a flower, some grass even sweat from your body. There is also a forbidden technique call blood bending, it bends the blood inside a person, it's a horrible thing that no water bender is allowed to use"

"Water can be a little annoying though, out here in a desert for example there aren't really any sources of water so were only good when there's water around, earth is always around us as is air and fire is inside of us but water we need to have it with us"

"You can create fire?"

"Yeah" I nodded

I held my hand out palm facing up as a small flame started to form, Kankuro stared at it in amazement then he stuck his finger in it quickly pulling it back shaking his hand.

"Well of course it's going to burn" I sighed getting rid of the flame

"Doesn't it burn you?"

"Not really... it's strange, it's not like I can't get burnt but my own flame doesn't seem to harm me. Fire is kind of cool but it has a life of its own sending waves of destruction, despite that though it's always handy to have, there are some fire benders that can summon lightning, the best I can do though is redirect it"

"What about air?"

"I have trouble with air" I explained concentrating on making a small air ball in the palm of my hand "as fire is opposite to water earth is opposite to air' that's what the old monk is always telling me anyway, I think what he means is that the reason I have such trouble with it is because I'm originally earth. When I master it though I'll be able to move with the wind, fly even, right now the best I can do is send a small gust of wind and create small concentrated balls like this one"

"That seems like a lot of power for one person" he sighed moving back a little

"That's why there's only one of me, I'm the symbol of peace in my world, well anyway that's how my world works, what about this one? You were talking about ninjas before"

He told me what he could about his world, that this world was run by the 5 kage's and Gaara was one of them. Ninja's used chakra, some kind of energy that was in their body to perform jutsu's that in turn could create things very similar to my bending as well as a lot of other things. I found out that Kankuro was actually the older brother of Gaara and he had an older sister Temari who was currently living in Konoha, by the time we finished talking the sun had gone down and Gaara walked in to see us laughing like old friends.

"Hey Gaara, you're not going to believe this but Ayako is from a different world and she can control fire, water, earth and air" he said standing up

Gaara looked at him like he was insane, Kankuro tried to fill him in but in the end I was the one that had to explain it. Gaara didn't seem all that interested in it though, I did notice he started to relax a little once he heard about the peace thing.

"So why does he carry around a gourd full of sand?" I whispered to Kankuro

"He uses his chakra to bend the sand to do his will, a bit like you're earth bending"

"... and there isn't enough sand around here so he has to carry it?"

"It's a special kind of sand"

"Kankuro where's dinner"

"You know I can't cook Gaara, that was always Temari's job"

"I can cook" I pointed out

Gaara looked back at me for a second before turning around again and vanishing into a room.

"Is he like that to everyone or is it just me?"

"It's not you don't worry"

"That's good... well lets starts dinner then"

Darning dinner Kankuro and I did most of the talking while Gaara just sat there silently, after dinner Kankuro showed me to his sister's old room telling me I could sleep there then I was left alone. Not having anything else to wear I laid down in the air nomad clothing slowly drifting off to sleep in this strange new world.


	2. Chapter 2

I woke up the next morning with a tired yawn and the sun pelting down on me from the window, I sat up rubbing my head with a yawn. I got up and looked down at my clothes with a sigh, I didn't like wearing this outfit, it was too loose and bulky but it was all I had. I opened the door with a yawn then headed to the living area but no one was there.

_"Still sleeping maybe..."_

I found four shallow bowls and after filling one with water I sat down on the floor in the living room, luckily there wasn't much furniture so I didn't have to go outside. I sat the bowls down summoning fire in one, putting earth in the other and lastly air but that was all around, then I set them around me following the cycle of the avatar, starting with earth in front of me. I sat down crossing my legs then closed my eyes focusing on each element until they were all hovering above their bowls then the rock started to spin around me, next was fire then air and lastly water. They all spun around me as I concentrated on my breathing, it was only a few days ago that I was able to do this with all the elements, I had trouble with air before.

It didn't last long though until I heard someone come into the room breaking my concentration, the air cycle broke first then the fire died out and the earth fell to the ground but I managed to keep the water from falling until I put it back in its bowl. I opened my eyes and looked up to see who it was that interrupted me only to see Gaara standing there, I forgot these guys weren't used to benders.

"Oh good morning" I smiled up at him "I'm not bothering you am I?"

"I want you to attack me" he said calmly with his arms folded

"What? There's no way I'm doing that"

"You won't be able to hurt me"

The second he said that I felt my eye starting to twitch but I had to practice self-control, not to let these things bother me.

"I'm sorry but I don't go around attacking people"

"If you don't I will attack you"

As he said that I felt sand slithering towards me but this sand was different, it wasn't sand he had just got from his backyard.

_"Kankuro said it was a special kind of sand... and I am curious about it... but I can't just start attacking him"_

I jumped out of the way before the sand reached me but it kept slithering after me, it was slow though so not much of a problem.

"You know you're really starting to bug me" I frowned at him

"Perhaps I was wrong about you, you are just a weakling"

"Weakling!" I shouted at him "that's it, you're going down!"

I pulled off the robe throwing it to the side reviling the pain black shirt reach just under my chest going around my neck and my black skirt reaching just above my knees with a slit on both sides giving me more freedom to move around. Before the cloth even hit the ground I threw some pointed rocks at Gaara but a sand barrier came from nowhere protecting him and not only protect him but it absorbed the rock shooting at back at me in small pebbles.

I only just managed to dodge them but before I could do anything sand started to shoot at me, I jumped up to the roof using the rock to keep me up there while the sand he was shooting at me created a large hole in the side of his house.

_"He's trying to kill me"_ I decided looking at the large hole

He was aiming at me once more but this time I jumped out of the hole in the wall and ran to a large open area in the desert away from harming people.

"Have you stopped running?" he asked calming walking towards me

"I wasn't running, you're already destroying you're house and I thought it might be nice if I didn't add to the damage" I smirked "now let's see what you can do"

The strange sand started to circle around him, it did look a lot like earth bending and if it could dissolve my rocks then I would have to work on a different plan of attack. I hardened the ground under my feet then started to spin around shooting fire from my hands and feet from different directions all aiming at him. His sand blocked all the fire, I was starting to think nothing could get pass that sand of his.

_"If I can get that sand away from him... or get him away from the sand"_

With a smirk I waved at Gaara before sinking into the ground, now all I had to do is wait for him to move or shuffle so I could feel the vibrations. Even though I had practiced in the sand no matter what it was still a little fuzzy, unlike solid earth sand moved with every little breeze or the slightest touch making it constantly move but right now all I had to do was follow the movements. I created a tunnel from under Gaara leading to the small bubble I had created for myself under here; once everything was set up I pulled Gaara down collapsing the tunnel right behind him so nothing could follow.

"Hi" I smiled as he fell onto the floor

He got back up and looked around, it looked like he was about to do something but I caught his attention as a flame appeared in my hand.

"Right now I could fill this whole area up with fire, I would be fine, my own flame doesn't hurt me but I don't know if what little sand you have left would be enough to protect you so I won't do it but even if it did protect you then I would just collapse the place and head back up. Either way can we call it quits now? I'm all dirty and hungry"

"You are a talented fighter"

"Thanks" I smiled rubbing the back of my head "aww now I have sand all through my hair... oh well, ready to get out of here? I'm sure there can't be much air down here"

He nodded folding his arms so I lifted us up out of the ground back to the hot air above us.

"Hey Gaara!"

I leant to the side and saw a guy running towards us, all I could see was his black clothing and scruffy hair but he looked strangely familiar.

"What happened to the house? And what are you guys doing up here?"

"Kan-Kankuro!" I asked falling over

"You ok?"

"You look different, no bat hat today?"

"Bat hat?" he asked looking a little confused before shaking his head "anyway what happened?"

"Gaara destroyed the house" I explained pulling myself up

"Gaara did?"

"I want it fixed when I return" Gaara said walking away

Kankuro and I looked at Gaara walking away then at each other with a sigh, he was the one that destroyed it after all.

"First he attacks me and now this" I sighed "what is up with him anyway?"

"He attacked you?"

"Yeah, I was meditating and he came downstairs and told me to attack him but when I wouldn't he attacked me and that's about everything" I explained walking away

I went back to the house and took a look at the hole in the wall, plus the mess in the living room.

"Well at least it's made of rock, shouldn't take too long"

After I finished putting the wall back together I headed inside to clean up, it didn't take too long, it was just my mess but still Gaara was the one that attacked me.

"There all done" I sighed wiping my brow

"You're a fast cleaner"

I looked up from the floor and saw Kankuro back in his face paint and bat ears, strangely enough that was more normal to me then when he wasn't wearing it all.

"It wasn't that bad" I said sitting up "I guess I should clean myself up to... can't stay like this all day"

I walked over to my robe and picked it up, it seemed heavier, hotter and more annoying today than ever.

"Temari probably left something behind, you're short then her but I'm sure you could probably find something"

"Oh well I couldn't do that..."

"It's fine, I doubt she will be coming back here any time soon" he waved of heading towards the kitchen

"Well... I guess I wouldn't hurt to look"

I went back to Temari's room and had a look in her closet, most of her clothing was to long for me but I managed to find a light purple long sleeve shirt that (on me) reached just above my knees then using a red sash I pulled it tight so it didn't look so loose and baggy. I found a hair tie and pulled my hair up into a bun with a few bits falling out here and there; normally I would just leave it out or tie it loosely but with all this sand blowing around this seemed the best even if it did look a little messy.

_"Not too bad"_ I decided after messing with my hair a bit

I headed back out and found Kankuro eating breakfast with a bowl set out for me to.

"Thanks" I smiled sitting down "well at least the food seems to be the same"

Despite the strange things the food was kept in and some of the items used to store and make the food it still was pretty much the same kind.

"So what is there to do around here? What do you do for fun?"

"Well I mostly work on my puppets so their ready for battle"

"Battle? Is that likely to happen?"

"Sure is, seems everything is going wrong in the world today"

"Who are you battling? Is it a rival nation?"

"Not really, I guess the main problem is the akatsuki but they haven't been doing much lately"

"Probably planning their next attack"

"Why do you sound so excited?"

"I do? I know war and fighting isn't good but... I've always longed for excitement, the avatars before me all had one major thing happen in their life but I haven't had that... sometimes I wonder if I'll just fade in with everyone else and maybe one day the avatar won't mean anything"

"Well you're welcome to come with us next time we leave" he said standing "how are you planning on getting back anyway?"

"Getting back? Well... uhhh... I'm sure something will come up" I smiled


	3. Chapter 3

A few days past and things were pretty boring, Gaara was never around, Kankuro was always busy with his creepy puppets and I didn't really have anything to do, at least I could work on my sand bending. Even that got boring after a while and I just found myself lazing in their house practising my air bending, I was starting to be able to create the balls avatar Aang used to ride around on, only they were the size of an apple but still before they were the size of a small stone.

"Where is Kankuro?"

I fell back landing on my head and flipping over so I was face first on the ground, with a groan I turned to my side and looked up at Gaara who was just staring down at me.

"Don't worry I'm fine, no need to worry or anything" I mumbled pulling myself up

"Where is he?"

"I don't know, in his workshop I guess" I sighed standing up "oh hey you're home before dark, is something happening?"

"He wasn't there"

"Well it seems to be around lunch time going by how hungry I'm getting so he should be back any second now"

"What's for lunch!" Kankuro announced only seconds later "oh hey Gaara"

"Let's go"

"Where are we going?"

"To the land of fire"

"Did something happen?"

"We have been requested to help out a team"

"Is Temari there?"

"Won't know until we get there, hurry and let's go"

"Wait you're leaving? Can I come?"

"No" Gaara said turning away from me

"What? Why not"

"You will only get in the way"

"Come on Gaara let her come; it will be like having Temari with us"

"Exactly"

"What if I promised not to say a word?"

"No"

"... What if I promised not to show you up in battle?"

He turned around and faced me with a glare that sent a shiver down my spine.

"Sorry, just joking, maybe I could help? The truth is I don't think I will be able to get home until I learn what the monk sent me here to learn" I sighed "and it's obvious I'm not going to learn that here so really what choice do you have? Unless you want me to stay here forever?"

"We leave in 5 minutes" he said leaving the house

"So this means I can go right?" I asked looking over at Kankuro

"Sounds like it" he said walking away

I didn't know what I was meant to do so I was going to go outside and wait with Gaara when Kankuro called me, he handed me a bag and told me to pack whatever I might need. I found a container that could hold water without leaking just in case there was none where we were going; after all it was called the land of fire. I didn't really have anything else to pack; everything else I needed was always with me. I stuffed my map in there out of habit but other than that I was good to go I walked out of my room and saw Kankuro holding out a white robe and some kind of scarf thing.

"It can get pretty sandy out there so put this on, you can use the scarf to cover your mouth or you're hair or something... anyway should be you're right size"

I put it on and it reached my just above my feet, perfect length really, then I put the scarf around my neck, it was warm and soft and it smelt nice to.

_"this must have been Kankuro's when he was younger"_ I smiled pulling it around me as much as I could _"he's such a sweet guy, way nicer then that Gaara, who does he think he is anyway, just thinking about him makes me want to scream!"_

"Everything ok?"

"Huh? Oh yeah... just talking to myself in my head" I chuckled blushing slightly "anyway, thankyou Kankuro"

"Don't mention it; Gaara will be waiting for us if he hasn't left already"

We walked out together and saw Gaara waiting for us with his eyes closed and his arms folded, it was almost like he was counting how long we took.

"Were ready!" I announced

He opened his eyes and turned to face us with that same bored expression.

"Then lets g... what are you wearing?"

"Oh this?" I asked pulling at the robes sleeves "Kankuro let me borrow it"

"Oh he did?"

"Uhhh" Kankuro mumbled sounding nervous

"He said the desert can get pretty windy and with all the sand around I would need it"

"Hmmm, well let's get going then"

_"I wonder what that was about? Oh well"_

We had been walking for what felt like forever, it's not that I was unfit or anything but I wasn't exactly used to walking long distances, normally I had my spirit animal with me and I just rode on his back but now I was alone.

"I hope the old coot is taking care of my Fluffy" I muttered with a frown

"Fluffy?" Kankuro asked stifling a laugh

"You wouldn't be laughing if you saw him, he's an armadillo lion and I'm the first person that has ridden on ones back without being eaten"

"Armadillo... lion?"

"Yeah don't you have those?"

"Well we have armadillos and lions but not an armadillo lion"

"... I guess I could try and explain it. It's about up to my chest and it has a really hard shell on its back but the rest of him is all soft and fluffy... I guess he's like a big cat but more scary and more into eating people. Oh and he curls up into an armoured ball when startled, it's really funny but not when I'm riding him it's not, he's sent me flying a few times"

"If he's so dangerous why do you keep him as a pet?"

"He's not a pet!" I shouted stopping in place "he's my spirit animal... I know it's weird for an earth bender to have and armadillo lion as a spirit animal but when I was 8 our village suffered greatly at the hands of a tidal wave. There weren't many earth benders, other than me there were only 3 others and they tried to redirect the water away from our village and I wanted to help but I got swept away in the current. I got pushed a long way down stream and when I woke up I was in the den filled with armadillo lion cubs and their mother looked after me, I had hurt myself pretty badly but when it was time for me to leave one of the cubs came with me.

"That was Fluffy... I was only 8 at the time so it was the best name I could think of because he was the fluffiest of them all. He's been with me ever since... I hope he is ok without me... and if that monk tries to feed him that vegetarian stuff again he's going to bit his hand off for real... well I did warn the monk not to do it again so it will be his own fault"

"So... what's a spirit animal?"

"You two hurry up!" Gaara called out already way ahead of us

Once we caught up to Gaara I told Kankuro about the spirit animals and what role they played, they weren't just pets or animals, to us they were our most loyal friends and companions.

"You know you guys should really get yourself some form of transport out here, this place is going to kill me!... oh wait I know"

I lifted up the sand and hardened it, I kept doing this until I had a fair amount was above me blocking out the hot sun.

"Much better" I sighed

"Don't you get tired using that?"

"What bending? Not really" I shrugged "I've been earth bending since I was 5 so it's just second nature to me, the only one that really takes it out of me is air bending but that's just because I'm not very good at it yet"

"Temari never dared to talk this much"

"Lighten up Gaara, how often do we get to meet a girl from a different world?" Kankuro laughed "so how old are you anyway?"

"15, I know I wasn't meant to find out I was the avatar until I was 16 but I kind of figured it out myself when I was 13, one day I got really angry and my hands were on fire then when I tried to cool them water came from nowhere so it wasn't too hard to figure it out from that"

"You're not meant to know until you're 16?"

"oh right, you don't know about that... uhhh yeah, some silly rule, I guess to wait until you're mature enough or to give you a normal life or something, I don't know. Anyway how old are you?"

"18"

"And red over there?"

Gaara stopped walking for a spilt second before continuing on, I don't know what it was about him but he just made me so frustrated, I couldn't help but say things like that.

"Gaara is 16"

"Really? And here I thought I would be older than him, he's a little shortie after all"

"He was born early"

"Oh, and what about that mark on his head? Is it some kind of scar?"

"Gaara did that himself, it's a tattoo he did when he was young"

"A tattoo? How did he do that himself?"

"He used his sand to carve it"

"Ouch" I muttered "what possessed the guy to do something like that?"

"It's a long story" Kankuro waved off

"If you two are done talking about me we might reach the land of fire faster" Gaara called out to us

I poked out my tongue at him almost making Kankuro laughed but he quickly stopped and covered it with a cough.

"Oh that's right, you said you had a sister, Temari right?" I said facing him

"Yeah, she's 19 and acting as a liaison between Suna and Konoha. What about you, any family?"

"Yeah, like I said before there was a huge tidal wave threatening our village and we didn't have many earth benders... well mum was one of them, I don't know what happened because I got swept away but dad, and everyone else in the village said it was her sacrifice that save the village. I don't really know what they mean but since then, no matter what storm rages in the ocean waves never reach us. So it's just dad, me and my younger sister Meiko, dad and Meiko aren't benders but even so they have tried their best to teach me and to put up with my bending disasters. I love them both dearly and one day when I return to them I will be a full avatar, that's what I promised them when I left the village nearly 2 years ago... but it's ok, I know they are praying for me and I'm praying for them, and one day I will return to them as a great avatar"

We talked to each other until I laid eyes on the land of fire, finally trees, grass, shade, it felt like I hadn't see it in months. I let my rock cover fall to the ground then I ran over there ahead of the other two and fell down face first onto the grass and just laid there enjoying the feel.

"Are you ok?" Kankuro asked behind me

"Oh I'm fine, just missed grass so much"

"Well were not there yet, Gaara how much further until we meet the leaf shinobi?"

"We should reach them by night fall if you are done sitting around"

"Yes sir" I said jumping up with a salute "onwards Kankuro, our master is calling to us"

It was so nice walking in the shade with the grass below me, I wanted to take off my sand filled sandals and feel the grass below me but I silently followed behind Gaara and Kankuro looking at everything around me.

_"It looks the same but it just feels different"_ I sighed closing my eyes

"Kankuro, go ahead and scout them out, they shouldn't be too far now"

"Right"

I watched in amazement as Kankuro seemed to just vanish from thin air, with Kankuro gone I didn't really have anyone to talk to, Gaara didn't seem like the talking type to me but after a while I decided to give it a shot.

"So" I said catching up to him "... what does it say?"

"What does what say?" he sighed sounding annoyed

"On your head"

"Can't you read?" he asked facing me

"Of course" I huffed "I can read as well as the next person... when I have my glasses"

"And where are they?"

"Back with the monk... with my other things... well I didn't exactly know I would be needing them now did I"

"How are you seeing now then?"

"I only need them when I read"

"It says love"

"... Because you love someone? Or did you lose someone you loved?"

"You can take that off now"

"Huh? Oh the robe... I don't want to"

"Were not in the desert anymore"

"I know that but... I like it, it's nice and warm and I like the way it smells" I sighed closing my eyes once more

"You're going to walk into something if you do that"

"I don't need my eyes to be open to see, I can see by seismic sense, it's kind of like feeling the vibrations around me. works a lot better when I don't have shoes on, right now I can only just see you and a little around me but I'm sure if there was a tree in our path you wouldn't walk into it. When my shoes are off I can also tell when people are lying and their hearts beat, it's pretty cool really but that is one thing I'm not better at then Toph was. Oh Toph was the greatest earth bender and she was blind, she lived a long time ago though and she was really good, she developed metal bending, which I can do... oh that's right, what's a Kazekage? I heard some people say it when I first met you"

"I am the Kazekage"

"Ohhhh... that still doesn't answer my question though"

"It means I am the top ninja in Suna"

"Oh ok, so how many kazekage's are there? Just you?"

"Yes, but there are 5 kage's, Konoha for example has a Hokage"

"Oh I get it, so kind of like one for each nation?"

"Yes"

"So its you're job to protect you're land right?"

"Yes"

"Not much different from me, only I have to protect my whole world" I sighed

"There just up ahead" Kankuro said appearing in front of us

"Who is it?"

"You're not going to like it but it's that Byakugan boy and... Naruto" he sighed hanging his head

"They sent that idiot? No wonder the mission is failing" he scoffed

"Who's Naruto and what's a Byakugan?"

"Naruto is... well... it's hard to describe him, Gaara any ideas?"

"An idiot" he said with a frown

We continued on in silence, I was curious to who this Naruto was, he was enough to annoy Gaara, but that didn't take much, then again even Kankuro didn't seem to impressed with him.

"Why did they have to send for them for" I heard a boy complain "we would be better off with Akamaru then them"

"Calm yourself Naruto, there's nothing we can do about it"

_"So that's Naruto? I wonder what he looks like"_

"I don't want to be here as much as you don't want me Naruto" Gaara said as we came to a stop

"We don't need you, why don't you just go home"

"No way, we just walked all the way here and were tired" Kankuro said sitting down

I poked my head around Gaara and saw a boy frowning with yellow hair wearing a black and orange jacket and orange pants growling. A few steps away from him was another boy with his eyes closed and his arms folded, reminded me of Gaara in the whole 'don't talk to me' vibe he's sending.

"Who's that?" the orange one said pointing at me

"I'm Ayako, the avatar"

"The what?" he asked staring at me blankly

"right... forgot... no one knows what that is here... then let's just say I'm a friend of Gaara and Kankuro here to help out and learn the true meaning of peace" I smiled stepping out next to Gaara

"Right, I'm Naruto Uzumaki, a shinobi from the hidden leave village, and the future Hokage"

"Really?"

"As if the village would let you become Hokage with your current skills" the other boy stated opening his eyes "I am Neji Hyuga"

"You're a blind ninja? Wow"

"What? I'm not blind"

Naruto started laughing until he fell to the ground in tears meanwhile I felt like an idiot but it wasn't my fault, I didn't know this world.

"Then why are your eyes all clouded like a blind person?"

"It is the symbol of the Hyuga clan"

"Ohhhh, so what about him on the floor with the whiskers? Is that an Uzumaki trait?"

"That is just Naruto" he said turning away

"Why are we here?" Gaara asked

"A case was taken from us, it's meant to contain important information that the Hokage needs urgently, our forces are spread thin searching for the akatsuki and you were the closes to us"

"What's the... you know what never mind, I'm sure I'll find out if it's important" I sighed

"So where are you from?" Naruto asked sitting up

"Earth kingdom... it's a place far away from here"

"Are you a ninja?"

"No... Aren't you going to strategize or whatever with the others?"

"Nah, that's Neji's stuff, I'm the one that beats all the bad guys"

"You must be really strong then"

"Yeah, I've been training in the mountains for a while; I've grown up a lot since then"

"I've been in a temple training but I'm getting nowhere" I sighed

"What are you training for?"

"Mastery over air"

"You mean wind release? I can do that"

"What really?"

"Sure, here I'll show you"

He stood up grabbing a leaf on his way then clasped it together in his hands for a few seconds before showing me the leaf that was now spilt in two.

"Wow that's so cool!"

"It takes a lot of hard work but it was easy for me"

"Could you teach me?"

"I dunno..."

"Naruto" Neji said behind us "you stay here with Ayaka, we will be back soon"

"What why don't I get to go?"

"Someone has to watch her"

"Why does someone have to watch me" I frowned

"You may be strong but you don't know this world, not all ninja wait for you to make the first move" Gaara explained

"... fine, I guess I should listen to the Kazekage"

"Hey I never agreed to this!"

"I am the team captain Naruto"

And just like that they were gone.

"How do they do that" I muttered to myself

"They just jumped into the trees"

"EXCATLY!" I shouted looking up

"You and Gaara seem close"

"Close? I only met the guy maybe 2 weeks ago"

"Really? It took me ages before we became friends"

"You're friends?"

"Sure"

"He sure is a strange guy" I sighed "so you going to teach me?"

"Well we don't have any water balloons..."

"Water balloons?"

"For training"

"Oh... wait a second"

I took off my bag and crouched down with my back facing Naruto then grabbed an empty water balloon and then using my water bending until the balloon was around half way full.

"How's this?"

"Why do you have water balloons?"

"I was planning on throwing them at the monk then I got stuck in the desert and I thought they might come in handy, even if it was just to throw at someone for fun" I shrugged holding it out

"Do you have more?"

"Yeah, 10 or so I think"

"Ok now what you have to do is focus you're chakra to turning the water inside the balloon" he explained as the balloon started to move

"Why don't I just move the water? I don't need air for that"

"You have water release to?"

"Uhhh yeah... something like that"

"Well you're not allowed to use it; you have to use your chakra"

"So... pretty much you want me to move the air inside of it to burst the water balloon"

"That's right" he said throwing it at me

"Ah" I just managed to catch it

"Go on then try"

"Well... ok"

I concentrated on the air inside the balloon then started to spin it; eventually I got the water moving around, kind of like a whirlpool.

"I'm doing it! Man this is easy; I'm going to break this thing in no time!"

"You still have to burst it"

"Right"

The sun had almost set not leaving much light and I was tired, I fell to the ground with a sigh letting the balloon roll onto the ground.

"I'll give you a hint; it's not going to break if you keep making it go round"

"yeah I gathered that... for balloons to break most of the time they land on something that pierces it... and I just have to do it from the inside... now I feel silly for not getting that before" I chuckled "ok one more try"

As I held the balloon up something was thrown at it making it pop, I looked down and saw a knife of some kind right near my feet.

"It's an ambush" Naruto said pulling out his own knife

"Without that Byakugan user you're finished"

"I don't need Neji to take you down! Come out and show yourself!"

As he said that there was a chuckle and 5 guys looking exactly the same showed up.

"I'll take care of this"

Naruto pulled up his hands and called out 'shadow clone jutsu' and right before my very eyes more Naruto's appeared. While Naruto was attacking them I was too busy watching in awe at how fast everything moved and I didn't notice the guy sneaking up behind me until he had a knife at my throat.

"You better stop it Jinchūriki or the girl gets it"

"Let her go!"

"I would let me go if I were you"

"That Jinchūriki is no match for me"

"You guys should create a handbook for all these words" I sighed

It was pointless to say I was the avatar so instead I took a deep breath breathing out hot air, not fire but it was still hot enough for him to move the knife away from me. the second I was free I spun around crouching on the ground then bought up two pillars to cover his hands then after bring him to his knees I did the same with his feet.

"So who is this guy anyway?" I asked standing back up

"How did you do that?"

"It's a long story" I chuckled


	4. Chapter 4

"Why did this guy attack us? And what's a Jinchūriki?" I asked sitting down

"That's me, seems everyone is after me now"

"So he was after you? Why?"

"Because I have the nine tails in me"

"The what?"

Naruto told me the story of how when he was born a demon was but inside of him and that Gaara had one to but it's gone now. I didn't really understand it all but the way he was saying it is that it looked like an all-out war was going to start.

"This is all strange to me... where I'm from everything is so peaceful and the only I get to do something is if a bandit tries to rob me but then just mentioning my name makes them run... I never get to use my skills"

"You should come back with me then, something is always happening in Konoha"

"That's a good offer but I wound up in Suna for a reason, so I'm going to stick with them until the end... so what are we meant to do with this guy? He's being really quiet"

We looked towards where the guy was meant to be but he wasn't there, the pillars were still there but he was gone.

"What the..."

"I guess it was a clone" Naruto sighed sitting down

"Shouldn't we find him?"

"No point, he'll find me"

"Oh... so if you and Gaara are friends now how come he doesn't really act like it? I mean he didn't seem too happy to see you..."

"That's just Gaara, he doesn't like anyone"

"What about Kankuro?"

"He's just as bad, first time I met him he tripped me over"

"Really? first time I met Kankuro he was chasing after me, not to hurt me but because I ran out of the hospital room and when I met Gaara he took me back to his place and is letting me stay there until I go home. They have both been fairly kind to me... sometimes Gaara can be a bit cruel but it seems like he's holding back maybe... like that he could be meaner but he's trying not to"

"Gaara hold back?" Naruto asked staring at me in shock

"He just annoys me so much though, his attitude, it's like he thinks he's better than other people or something"

"That sounds more like him"

"Hey Naruto... what do you say we get him back? Get all of them back? Including that Neji guy, he didn't seem too nice to you"

"What did you have in mind?"

Once everyone returns and were fast asleep I got up and went over to Naruto, who had also fallen asleep. I shook his shoulders gently until he woke up then we set to work, I knew Kankuro always kept some of his face war paint stuff on him so we went into his bag and got hold of that.

"You do Gaara and I'll take Neji" I whispered

"Right" he whispered back

He took the paint stuff and started to do pictures on Gaara's gourd while I went up to Neji; luckily he was lying on his side so I could get his hair. After doing his hair in a plate and once Naruto was finished with the gourd we both crouched on either side of Kankuro with paint on our fingers. We decided the best way to do this was to both just really quickly do something then run back to our sleeping spot, my side was covered in dots while Naruto's side was stripes. With that done we put his paint away then headed back to sleep both knowing there would be hell to pay in the morning, l but it was all worth it.

The next morning I was woken up with shouting, I sat up with a yawn rubbing my eyes and saw a lot of angry people and a frightened Naruto.

"What's going on?" I yawned

I wished I hadn't said anything because now I had them glaring at me instead and their glares were enough to kill people. Even though they were glaring at me like that I couldn't help but start laughing.

"This is going to take forever to get off" Kankuro mumbled

"Come here" I said through giggles

I got out a cloth from my bag and my water bottle; I had to stand on my tip toes to reach the top off his head as I started to clean away the paint.

"Wow this stuff doesn't come off easy does it?"

"I'm going to kill you for this Naruto" he shouted

"Calm down, if you could have seen you're faces" I giggled "besides it was my idea"

"You're idea?" he asked looking down at me

"Ye-yeah... anyway just stay still for a second would you"

It took me a while but eventually I managed to clean it off for him, he muttered a small thankyou before walking away from me.

"Ok who's next?"

I looked over and saw Gaara holding his gourd like a dog protecting their food and decided I wasn't quiet brave enough to face that yet so instead I went to Neji who seemed to have gotten his hair in one big mess.

"How did you manage this?"

He just glared at me in response and I let out a sigh, for a guy who has such long hair I thought he would be able to undo a simple plait.

"Let me help"

I went back over to my bag and grabbed out a brush I bought with me then skipped back over to Neji. After brushing the nots he had somehow created I gave him his hair tie and left him to it, now the last one was Gaara who was still sitting on the floor holding his gourd, only now it was more like a child with their teddy then a crazed dog. I wet my cloth again and walked towards Gaara cautiously.

"Need some help?" I offered crouching down

He shot me a glare making me chuckle nervously.

"Don't be like that" I told him "it will come off, do you honestly think I would do something that couldn't be fixed"

I leant forward and started to get rid of the paint, once I was done I sat back wiping my brow with the back of my hand, that was a lot harder than I thought it would be but all fixed now. I stood up dusting myself down but noticed a dead eerie silence, I looked behind me and saw Naruto cornered by the other two but they stopped whatever it was they were planning on doing and all three were staring at me.

"What?" I asked "do I have something on my face?"

"Let's finish the mission" Gaara said behind me

After hitting Naruto Kankuro and Neji agreed grabbing there things and started walking away, I crouched down and poked Naruto's twitching body.

"Hurry up!" Gaara called out

I waited until Naruto was able to stand before we both went after the others staying a little bit behind them.

"How's you're head?"

"Its fine" he smiled at me

"That's good" I giggled

"How come they didn't hit you?"

"Because I'm a girl of course"

"It's more than that; I mean Gaara let you touch the gourd"

"Yeah so what?"

"No one gets to touch it"

"Yeah I figured something like that they way he was hugging it"

"And you're wearing the kazekage robe" he said calmly with his hands behind his head

"I'm what?" I asked stopping in place

"Huh?" he said turning his head towards me

"_This is his... but that means... and I said..."_

My eyes widened as I looked at Gaara's fading figure, my whole body felt hot as embarrassment washed over me.

"You alright? Your face is all red" Naruto said lowering his arms

"I-I'm fine"

"Well come on then"

"Right"

"_Why didn't he say anything? Why would Kankuro be giving me Gaara's Kazekage robe!"_

It didn't take that long until we reached the thief's, they were all just sitting around but it looked like there were a few of them and that they had been here a while with the tents.

"What's the plan?" Kankuro asked in a whisper

"I say we just get the jump on them" Naruto said

"Idiot, remember what happened last time you did that? It's the reason we lost the case" Neji hissed

"If we get them from all sides..." Gaara started to say

"Or send me" I offered

The others turned around and looked at me; this was the perfect time to try out something new I have been working on.

"They won't see me as a threat and I defiantly don't look like a ninja, ill distract them and you guys can do you're ninja thing and take back the case"

"How are you going to do that without them attacking you?" Naruto asked

"Easy, I've been working on something new that should work with people like this. I'll keep them busy while you guys find the case and grab it, only one should go in for the case while another is look out and the other 2 should hang around in case any try to escape or something"

While they started talking about who should do what I took of Gaara's robe, scarf and the shirt of Temari's then undid my hair from its bun.

"You're not going out just wearing that are you?" he said behind me

"Of course" I smiled folding the robe up "here, you can have this back"

He took it from me then I waved to the others and headed out, I walked around to where a small path was then I headed into their camp stopping right in the middle.

"Hey" I winked with a small wave "how you guys doing today?"

"What are you doing her girl" one of the men said

"I heard there were some strong brave men out here, I just had to see if it were true"

"And what if we don't let you leave?"

"Who said I was planning on leaving? I thought strong men like yourself would need someone to... help them relax every now and then"

That got their attention, a few of them started to walk towards me with lust in their eyes making me want to kick dirt in their face but I didn't. One put their hand on my shoulder but I gently picked it up then turned to face them.

"Now don't get ahead of yourself there"

I turned around and walked over to a nearby crate, I stood up then called everyone around, once I had their attention I started.

"Who here wants to see some magic?"

"Magic?" a few of them scoffed

"Don't you want to see my magic?" I asked pouting

A few of the more... enthusiastic guys hit the other ones then urged me to continue so with a smile I did.

"Does anyone have some fire?"

"I've got a lighter" one guy said walking up to me

"Perfect"

"_What is a lighter?"_ I wandered as I crouched down

"Now I need you to put the flame on my hand"

"You're hand? Really?" he asked looking a little unsure

"Don't worry, the flame won't burn me" I said with a wink

He pulled out the 'lighter' then after he did something to it a small flame appeared on top of it, it was pretty cool and if I had more time I would have run off with it to figure out how it worked. He put the flame over my hand and I created my own small flame cancelling his out, once that was done and the guy was freaking out I stood up for the others to see. They were all watching me and it was fun to have a crowd, whenever I did this in the fire nation my master would get angry at me and make me squat in the sun for hours just breathing.

I started to juggle the fire from hand to hand throwing the small flame this way and that catching it each time with a big smile, after a while the crowd got bigger until it looked like everyone was here watching me. Once that trick started to get old I clapped my hands together extinguishing the flame.

"How did you do that?" one of them asked

"Magic" I winked at him "now next, who wants to throw a bucket of water on me?"

There were a few whistles and almost all the guys nodded in agreement, if there's one thing I could count on it was man's weakness for a half-naked girl. After a couple of the men had grabbed a bucket of water they walked up towards me but I stopped them before they started throwing it at me.

"For this trick it's up to these fine men beside me to try and drench me in water, if they can I'll take of my shirt, if they can't then I'll have to take one of your shirts and put it on"

"That's easy" one of the men shouted with a scoff

"Then go ahead"

Every time they went to throw the water on me I let it soak me but as it fell to the ground I used my bending to dry myself, this went on for a while until I'm guessing whoever snuck in to get the scroll was caught.

"Shows over boys" I smirked jumping down

"Stop her! She's with them!"

They came at me but with all the water around I froze their legs in place making them fall over, once the water was nothing but mud I started a new tactic. I covered them with the mud then using my gust of wind dried it, it didn't do much but it made them stop and trying to pull it off them, dry mud was more annoying than mud itself. By this point everyone else had jumped into the fight but by the end of it we won, it turned out they were just a group of men from a village someone called Tsunade owed money to so we let them go.

Once Naruto and Neji had the case back they headed off back to their village, I waved goodbye to them with a smile as Naruto said I was welcome to visit any time. Once they were gone I walked back over to where I left my clothes and put them back on, then we all grabbed our things and headed out.


	5. Chapter 5

"We will stop here for the night" Gaara said stopping

"What? Why?" Kankuro asked

"There is a storm in the desert and it will be dark before we reach Suna" Gaara said sitting down

"Yeah alright" he sighed sitting down as well

I sat down as well closing my eyes and taking of my shoes enjoying the feel of grass between my toes, like this I could see almost everything, I could see every time Gaara and Kankuro moved making it easier to tell when Kankuro was moving towards me.

"Yes?" I asked as he was right in front of me

"How did you know?"

"I can feel the vibrations through the earth" I said wiggling my toes

"You were pretty good today"

"Thanks..."

"You didn't get hurt or anything did you?"

"No, why?"

"Well you're all silent"

"Oh I can't be silent?"

"Not normally" he shrugged sitting down near me

"I'm fine...however I do have a question for you"

"What is it?"

"Why did you give me Gaara's robe?"

"It was the only thing that would fit you"

"But you didn't even ask him did you?"

"He's my younger brother, not the other way around" he pointed out

"but still... just because you're the older sibling that doesn't mean you can just boss them around... you're meant to protect them, look after them, watch them... as a big brother its you're job to make sure he is strong enough to live in this world without you"

"Gaara can look after himself"

"Maybe but what about his heart? Naruto told me what he was like... do you think he would be fine if he lost his big brother?"

"You're the strangest kid I've met"

"That's because I have the wisdom of hundreds of avatars before me"

"You're world just sounds so weird"

"I guess it would to you" I giggled "I'm going to walk around for a bit, I want to see as much of this world while I can"

"Yeah ok then"

I opened my eyes and stood up; I didn't bother with my shoes as I headed away from Gaara and Kankuro. I found a nice clear patch of soft grass and sat down crossing my legs with my palms on my knees face up and my eyes closed. I summoned forward an avatar, I wasn't too sure if any would respond here but sure enough the avatar before me, Korra, responded.

"You have a question for me?" she asked

"Yeah... you're a girl... did you ever feel... I mean... I didn't but then the robe so maybe I did but... it can't because I have to leave... unless I stay... but then... I can't break the cycle... Korra have you ever felt like this?"

"You already know the answer, you can't stay" she said fading away

_"Well that was no help... maybe Aang; after all I know he fell in love with Katara"_

"Aang what about you? What do you think?" I asked as he appeared before me

"I offer you this advice, you can't keep running away"

The next few avatars pretty much all said the same thing being extremely unhelpful, so instead I decided to follow avatar Kuruk's advice, this may be the only chance I get so I should make it count. I headed back to the others, Kankuro was currently gathering sticks for a small fire and Gaara was still sitting in the same place as before.

"Have a nice walk?" Kankuro asked

"Yeah it was very... enlightening" I smiled

I walked up to Gaara then sat down right next to him not saying a word but I did hear Kankuro dropping all the firewood he was holding and Gaara turned to look at me but still I kept my mouth shut, well for as long as I could anyway.

"Doesn't that gourd get in your way when you sit down?"

"I'm used to it" he said turning away from me

While I tried to think of something else to say to him I noticed Kankuro having some trouble with the fire so I got up and lit it for him.

"One thing about being a fire bender I never have problems lighting things" I giggled

"What were you doing with Gaara?" he asked me in a whisper

"Well I've been all confused so I got some advice and anyway I decided to follow Kuruk's advice, his actually made sense"

"Who is that?"

"One of my past lives"

"Wait you were a guy?"

"Yeah, I've been a guy and a girl, male, female, man, women, bottom line I have been both"

"You're world makes less sense the more I hear about it" he sighed "so what was this advice?"

"Not to hold back" I smiled

I headed back towards Gaara sitting down next to him again, for once I found myself stumped for a conversation. Talking to Kankuro was always so easy but with Gaara it was a lot harder, long after the sun had set I started to get a little cold and tired.

"Here"

I looked over and saw Gaara holding out his kazekage robe.

"It will keep you warm"

"Thanks" I mumbled

I put it around me feeling instantly warmer, then with a sigh I started to relax holding it close, I felt my body get heavy as I let out a yawn. I probably should have just found a place to sleep but I really couldn't be bothered moving so instead I let my head slowly fall down until it landed on something. I opened my eyes for a second trying to figure out what I landed on, next to me I saw something red and it felt soft, like cloth but under my head was a little hard but somehow comfortable at the same time. It wasn't until what I was currently resting on started to shuffle under me and I felt someone looking at me and noise in the background of someone falling over I realised there's only one thing I could be lying on.

"You're a good pillow" I mumbled before drifting off to sleep

The next morning I woke up with my neck hurting a little, I was slouched over and when I went to sit up straight I felt the strain of laying weird all night. With sleepy eyes I looked over and saw Gaara was still sitting there and that I had been sleeping on him all night.

"You're awake"

"Epp, uhhh... yeah... wait didn't you sleep?"

"No" he said standing

"... I'm sorry" I mumbled "I didn't mean to keep you awake"

"I used to go years without sleep, one night isn't a problem"

"... That just makes me feel even more guilty" I sighed

"Don't worry about it" he said once again

"Sooo.. Where's Kankuro?"

He pointed behind us and I saw him laid out on the ground still fast asleep, I couldn't help but giggle at the sight.

"Should we wake him?" I asked standing up stretching my arms

"He may sleep a little longer"

"so you're gourd is made out of sand right?'

"How did you know?"

"I'm an earth bender" I shrugged "I can just tell, my question is how can it stay together?"

"The sand inside is infused with my chakra, it is different from other sand, stronger, faster"

"So pretty much you're chakra keeps it together?"

"Yes"

"I wonder... if I could control it" I mumbled out loud

"You?"

"Well I can control all forms of earth so I was just wondering... I mean I know you're sand is different that's why I was thinking if it would be possible... don't mind me I was just thinking out loud"

He reached behind him pulling out the cork then he held it out towards me.

"Take it"

"... Are you sure?"

He frowned a little and continued to hold it out for me so I took hold of it, it felt like just normal sand but it seemed heavier. I held it in my hand then put my other over top and concentrated on changing its shape, it was hard and the sand seemed to be fighting against me but eventually I did manage to change it into a star shape.

"How do you move it so fast, it's so... heavy compared to normal sand... like it was fighting against me"

It started to fall apart in my hands then the small particles of sand slipped through my fingers and floated towards Gaara's closed hand. Once the sand was all in his hand he opened it up to show the cork once more.

"See, for me it was like I was bending metal not sand... I don't get it"

"It protects only me, listen to only me, that you could change it at all shows that you have great power"

"Let's have a competition!"

"competition?"

"Yeah"

I called up some rock to my hands and changed it to the same shape Gaara's sand was.

"let's see who can make things faster, my rock or you're sand, we will take it in turns and both say something then we will see who makes it faster, you choose something first"

It took me a while to convince him but eventually we were both sitting opposite each other manipulating the sand and rock in front of us trying to win. I had long lost count of who was in front and we just started to mess around as the challenge was forgotten as we both just tried to make something better than the other.

"What is that?" he asked picking up my rock

"It's an ostrich horse"

"That is not a real animal"

"It is to, a lot of people in the earth kingdom ride them and what about what you have, what is that called?

"It's a horse, that is what people ride here"

"Well... I like mine better, two legs are faster than four"

"At least mine is normal"

"To you maybe"

"To everyone!" he shouted

"Not me!"

"Well that just mean you're not normal" he frowned

"Then you're not normal either" I frowned back

We were only inches away from each other silently glaring at the other until a shadow fell over our heads; we both looked up and saw Kankuro looking down at us.

"What's going on?"

"Gaara said I was weird" I said sitting up straight

"No I said you weren't normal" he said sitting up straight "and you said the same thing to me"

"Only because you said it first!"

"Uh right... well shouldn't we be getting back Gaara?"

He nodded and went to put the cork back in his gourd only he was still holding my rock so it didn't change.

"Looking for this?" I asked dangling his 'horse'

"Give it back"

"Nope, its mine now" I said standing

I didn't get too far until it turned back into sand and went back to Gaara.

"Cheater"

After putting the cork back in he threw my rock at me, with a smirk I made it fall short then started giggling.

"Missed me" I said poking out my tongue


	6. Chapter 6

"Finally back, I swear the desert wasn't that big last time we crossed it" I sighed leaning on the side of the house

"I'll be back tonight" Gaara said turning away

"What you're leaving? We just got back?"

"I have things to do" he said leaving

"Doesn't he ever rest" I sighed pulling myself away from the house

"He is the kazekage, you know today was the first time I've seen him do something... Childish"

"What's childish about having fun" I giggled

"Everything" he frowned

"You guys need to lighten up" I sighed "oh I know, ill cook you're favourite foods! What do you and Gaara like?"

Even though most of the food was the same they had different names for most of it so I needed Kankuro's help but with the two of us working together we managed to get everything done.

"You really went all out..."

"well you have both done so much for me, you've let me stay here and you've looked after me... this is just my way to thank you"

I heard the front door open so I skipped out to greet Gaara.

"Welcome back Gaara" I smiled kindly "dinner is ready"

He walked into the kitchen where Kankuro was already eating; I stared at him blankly not believing he couldn't wait for 2 minutes while Gaara sat down.

"What?" Kankuro asked looking at me

"Oh never mind, glad to see you're enjoying yourself there"

"You did... all of this?" Gaara asked

"Well Kankuro helped me... I didn't really know what some of the things were but I still tried very hard to make something you would enjoy and I hope you like it"

I couldn't really eat much, I just wasn't very hungry and I was starting to feel a little sick. I decided I was probably just tired, I doubt I had the best sleep last night and after walking around all day I hadn't had a chance to rest. Once everyone finished I went to stand up and clear the table but everything around me spun and I had to sit back down.

"Ayaka!" Kankuro shouted getting up

"What's wrong?" Gaara asked

I looked up at them forcing a laugh "oh I'm fine, I just got up to fast that's all"

I stood up once again feeling a bit more stable then cleared of the table, like every other night the others left to do their own thing while I cleaned up. I didn't mind after all it was me who made the mess but tonight I was struggling to stand and my head was killing me, I shook my head and rubbed my eyes before I started to fill up the sink. Once everything was cleaned up I headed to bed falling face first on the bed falling into a deep sleep.

That night I dreamt about home, or at least the air temple, I was sleeping in my bed but Fluffy had his head on it looking at me worried. I wanted to tell him I was ok but my hand went right through him, he sat him sensing that something wasn't right but soon I was forgotten as he paid attention to my sleeping body. I had felt like this only once before, it was during my stay at the northern water tribe, I had been meditating there and accidently entered the spirit world, to get back into my own all I had to do was enter my body again but I wasn't ready to wake up, I couldn't not yet so instead I ran away from my body until I fell out of the building falling to my death.

I woke up with a jolt and the sun on my face, I was sweating and felt weak but I forced myself to get up. I headed to the kitchen to get myself something to drink and eat, after that I did feel a lot better and was back to my bouncy self in no time.

"You're awake early"

I turned around and saw Gaara standing there fully dressed while I was still in my underclothing and my hair was a mess. I was a morning person, normally awake the second the sine starts to rise but this, he looked like he was leaving and the sun wasn't even fully up yet!

"So are you... leaving so early?"

"Sleep is still a new concept to me"

"Oh right... I don't know how you did it, I couldn't live without sleep, it's the best time after all, the time where anything is possible"

"Kankuro sleeps enough for me and him"

"Gaara, was that a joke? I don't believe I have heard that from you" I giggled walking towards him "my little boy is growing up"

"I'm not you're little boy" he frowned"

"That's what you say" I smirked reach up to pat his head

I heard movement behind Gaara so I leant to the side a little and saw Kankuro standing there with shock.

"Oh good morning Kankuro"

Gaara stiffened under me but Kankuro just groaned and mumbled before walking back to his room closing the door behind him, I removed my hand from Gaara's head and put my finger under my chin.

"I wonder what that was about... oh well; would you like something to eat Gaara?"

After making him breakfast I sat opposite him thinking, I had been here for over 2 weeks but yet I still didn't really know what he did during the day.

"What is it?" he asked with a slight grumble

"Well I was just wondering... what it is you do during the day"

"I do many things"

_"Well that didn't answer my question"_ I thought with a frown

"Oh I know, why don't I go with you today?"

"No"

"You didn't even think about it" I whined

He paused for a few seconds and I thought that maybe he was going to let me but after around a minute or so all he said was 'no' again.

"Why not?"

"You will only get in the way"

"That's not very nice Gaara; you shouldn't be so mean to me"

"I can do what I please"

"... What if I promise to behave and to listen to what you say?"

"Is that possible for you?" he asked with a slight scoff

I let out a sigh and looked down at my hands in my lap.

"Just this once?" I asked in a whisper

"Why do you want to come? I doubt what I do is of any interest to you"

"Because... I've been here for nearly 3 weeks and I still don't really know much about you, only what people have told me..."

"Is that all? I thought it was longer"

I laughed a little and looked up at him with a smile "it's just one day, please?"

"If you listen to everything I say, do what I tell you, stay quiet and don't leave my side or touch anything"

"Really? Thank you!"

"Go get dressed, we leave in 5 minutes"

After getting dressed Gaara and I headed out, I followed him around Suna for most of the day it was kind of nice getting to see the place then we went to the largest building in Suna where Gaara started to instruct other ninjas on missions and things like that. I had to find some place to sit down; I still wasn't feeling that good, all day I kept getting dizzy but it was hot outside so I decided it was just that.

Once the sun started to set we didn't get any more people come in so Gaara started to work on everything he had put off during the day and now with everyone gone I was able to relax. I let out a sigh and got up from my chair on the other side of the room and walked towards the window looking out at Suna.

"I wish I could stay here with you" I mumbled

"What was that?"

I turned around facing Gaara with a smile and a small laugh "just talking to myself"

"Hmm" he mumbled before going back to his paper work

It was kind of weird seeing Gaara sit behind a desk doing paper work but in the same way it suited him, with a small sigh I turned back around looking out the window.

"I guess... I guess I'll leave you to your work and head back, I should start dinner..."

"It's getting late"

"Yeah..."

"Let's go" he said standing

"What about you're work?"

"I don't feel like doing it"

He started walking out of the building so I chased after him, there weren't many people out, most were inside either starting dinner or already eating. Now that there weren't many people around I walked side by side with Gaara but as we were walking I tripped over my own foot. Gaara grabbed me and pulled me up before I could hit the ground, he was stronger than he looked and just from pulling on my shoulder it was enough to turn me around and make me fall into his chest instead of the ground.

"Sorry" I mumbled pulling myself away

He didn't let go of my shoulder and just kept staring at me but his eyes were different, they looked kind and caring, almost concerned.

"Are you ok?"

"You should be more careful" he said letting me go and walking away

"Yeah, I've been a little clumsy today" I giggled running after him "I just need to get some sleep, I'll be fine tomorrow"

Once we got back to the house I smelt something like food burning, I ran inside to the kitchen and saw Kankuro attempting to cook.

"What are you doing?"

"Making dinner what does it look like? Where have you been anyway?" he asked facing me

"For starters you have that to high" I said pointing to the high flame "and for seconds it takes like 10 minutes so you should have done it last otherwise it gets a little cold and doesn't taste as good"

"What is going on in here?" Gaara asked walking into the kitchen

"You're back early..." Kankuro said

I noticed the look on Kankuro's face as he pieced together the reason Gaara was home early and where I had been, deciding to have a little fun I slinked next to Gaara wrapping my arms around his neck pressing my body to his.

"Gaara and I are in love"

Gaara froze while Kankuro just stood there in shock with his mouth open; he went to say something but no words came out then as he went to walk towards us he tripped over himself falling to the floor making me crack up laughing. I let go of Gaara and walked over to the benches stepping over Kankuro and started to try and fix what he was burning, by the time Kankuro managed to pick himself up Gaara had already left the room and I had nearly finished dinner.

"You were just joking?"

"Of course, you should have seen you're face" I giggled "and Gaara to, he was as white as a ghost when he left"

"You're the only one brave enough to get so close to him" he sighed sitting down

"What do you mean?"

"Not long ago anyone who touched him was in trouble, that's if they could get past his sand that was... you don't seem to have any problem"

"Probably because I give him a heart attack every time so he can't think straight" I laughed

"Yeah maybe..."

"You know I should teach you how to cook tomorrow, what are you going to do when I go home huh?"

"I was doing fine" he grumbled

"Ok then ill cook for Gaara and I and you can do your own food then?"

"Cooking is for girls" he pointed out

"I'll put a dress on you then" I frowned

"WHAT!" he shouted falling from his chair


	7. Chapter 7

The next morning I woke up to the sound of a door closing, with a yawn I got up and got changed.

_"Gaara leaves so early" _I thought with a sigh

I headed out but no one was there, Kankuro was still sleeping and he probably would for another while so I had nothing to do for the day. I was eating breakfast when an idea popped into my head, once I put everything away I crept towards Kankuro's room. I opened his door a little then jumped back half expecting something to come down and hit me but after nothing happened I pushed the door open a little more so I could see in the room. Kankuro was still fast asleep snoring lightly, I found the object of my pray all in a nice pile on the floor now the only question was how do I get it to me. I thought about using earth bending but that might wake him up and trying to pick up flat things with water bending was near impossible so instead I slowly crawled into the room.

I crept towards the pile of clothing on the floor as fast and quiet as I could, once I had my hands on them I hurried back out not worrying about closing the door behind me. I went into the kitchen placing the clothes on the table, I took off my shirt then put his on, it reach below my knees and luckily his sleeves were shorter than normal so on me they reached just over my wrist. I had to roll up the ends of his pants so I didn't trip over them and everything was a little baggy on me but I held everything together with the red belt of his. Once the clothing was kind of on I bundled up my hair and put on his bat hat thing, how he wore this all the time was beyond me, it was so hot under all this clothing.

"Now I'm too hot to do anything" I sighed

I heard movement and peaked my head around the corner seeing a very confused Kankuro walking out of his room, I ducked back into the kitchen as he turned towards me but I wasn't fast enough he was already walking towards me. I opened up a door size hole in the kitchen and ran outside; just as Kankuro walked into the kitchen and laid eyes on me I waved to him closing up the hole. I heard him shouting as I ran around outside, this is where having their house away from the village was good, I could do things like this without worrying about the people next door seeing.

"Ayaka give me back my clothes!" he shouted already outside

"I am not Ayaka, I am the puppet lord!" I said with an evil laugh

I rose up some rock figures but Kankuro smashed them, with his fist! I never actually fought with Kankuro before and all I knew is what I heard and the little I saw in the forest but this was nothing compared to that. He was a lot stronger than I thought and he was able to catch me within seconds.

"Give them back"

"Ok, ok you win, you can let go of my arms now"

He didn't let go of my arms until we were both inside.

"Now give them back"

I took off the belt, shirt and pants handing them over to him but I kept the hat on, I kind of liked it, wasn't too bad once you got used to it.

"All of it" he frowned

"But I like it... can't I wear it just for today?"

"No"

"Please?"

"No"

I pulled a sad face and looked up at him with watery eyes but I only met his cold ones as he frowned at me.

"That won't work on me"

"Meany" I grumbled "don't you have other ones you can wear?"

"Yes but that is my one"

"... Can I wear one of your other ones then?"

"No"

"Why not?"

"Because they are mine"

He walked up to me and pulled it off my head before going to his room, he came out not long after fully dressed then threw something at me.

"It's one of my old ones" he grumbled "you can have it"

"What really?" I asked holding it up

"I'm going to my workshop"

I ran my thumb over the silver plate trancing the symbol, I had seen other people around here with the same thing but mostly on headbands, even Naruto and Neji had one but they had a different symbol on it.

"I wonder if I would have been a ninja... if I was born here"

I spent the day inside, I was so tired even though I hadn't done anything and I kept getting dizzy spells making me fall over. As much as I tried to deny it I knew what was happening, my body, or more my spirit was trying to return to where it truly belonged and I wasn't letting it. It wasn't long after lunch that I ended up falling asleep on my bed, I didn't wake up again until the sun was setting and I heard the front door closing.

"... Ayaka... are you here?"

"I'm in here!" I called out

I sat up on the bed holding my head, I was groggy from having such a short sleep and a little out of it but I was slowly waking myself up. By the time Kankuro opened my door I was standing on two shaky legs falling back to my bed, he walked into the room slowly looking at me.

"I'm fine"

"You're not fine"

"I didn't sleep much last night so I got tired and had a nap and now my body is still half asleep" I explained to him "anyway I should start dinner... Gaara will be home soon"

"Don't worry about it"

"Oh? Are you going to try cooking again?" I giggled standing up

"You were going to teach me right?"

_"Is he actually that worried about me?"_

"Oh that's right, well then let's go, to the kitchen!"

Mostly I sat down just telling him what to do even though I was feeling fine now Kankuro knew something was up. Once I heard the front door open I jumped up and ran out to greet him, it was something I did every night and I guess Gaara was used to it now, normally he would freeze for a second or two but now he doesn't even glance at me.

"How was your day Gaara?"

"Where is Kankuro?"

"In the kitchen why?"

"Does he know you are wearing that?"

"Wearing what?" I asked tilting my head to the side

"On your head"

I reached up and felt the cloth on my head; I had completely forgotten I was even wearing his bat hat.

"It's one of his old bat hats and he let me have it after I took his one"

"You took his?" he asked walking past me

"Yeah, he got it back though... but then he let me have this one! You're so lucky to have a big brother Gaara"

He just huffed slightly and went into the kitchen and sat down at the table with his arms folded, I followed in after him and helped Kankuro finish up before placing everything on the table.

"Who wants to go for a walk with me?" I asked once everyone finished eating

"What? At this hour?" Kankuro asked

"I haven't gone for a walk at night yet..."

"I'm not going anywhere"

I poked out my tongue at Kankuro before turning my attention to Gaara.

"You'll go with me right?"

I expected to have to try and convince him but instead he stood up and started walking away.

"We'll be back soon Kankuro" I waved running after Gaara

I stepped out letting out a relived sigh, it was nice and cool and there was a full moon flooding me with new power even here.

"Hey want to see something cool?" I asked skipping in front of him

He didn't say anything so I took that as a yes, I raised my left hand above my head with my arm slightly bent then after taking a few deep breaths letting the power of the full moon wash over me before quickly moving my hand in a circle with droplets of water forming.

"There's no water around" he pointed out

"There's water in the air, during the day not so much out here in the desert but at night and with the power of the full moon I can pull water out of the very air"

"You get power from the full moon?"

"During the full moon my water bending power is stronger because of the moon spirit" I explained gathering the water in my hand "I guess even here there's a moon spirit up there"

I looked around until I found a shop that had some small plants outside their window, I ran over then using the water I had taken from the air I showered it over the flowers before walking back to Gaara. We walked around some more with me telling him the beginning of bending, I don't know if he really cared or not but I couldn't just walk in silence, I had to talk about something and that's the only thing I had to talk about. After a while I started to get tired and had to find some place to sit down and rest for a little while, the way things were going I wouldn't be able to stay in this world for longer than a week.

"Gaara... when I go home... will you still think of me?"

"What"

"Oh nothing, just thinking out loud again" I laughed waving my hand "come on let's get back"

I stood up way to fast and tripped over my feet; Gaara was in front of me before I could hit the ground holding my shoulders just inches away from his chest.

"Opps" I giggled standing up right

I went to walk again when I felt a pain shoot up my right ankle, I winced a little as I put pressure on it, I was going to just laugh it off and continue on but the way Gaara was looking at me I guessed he knew I hurt it.

"I'm fine, it's just a twisted ankle, save me from meeting the ground with my face only to hurt my ankle" I laughed

I went to walk when Gaara suddenly lifted me up; I wrapped my arms around his neck in fear of falling as he held my close to his own body.

"Ga-Gaara?"

He didn't say anything as he started to walk and I found my brain wasn't working anymore making it impossible for me to say anything. He put me down in the living room then headed to his own room but before he got too far he stopped for a second.

"You should rest tomorrow" he said before continuing on

With a small smile I went to hobble to my bed but before I could even open my door Kankuro appeared behind me grabbing my wrist, I turned around to face him and ask what he was doing but once I laid eyes on his face I didn't say a word.

"You're going to tell me what is going on right now" he said tightening his grip slightly

* * *

><p><strong>. I'm sooooo sorry! iv had this chapter finished for AGES but this just go so busy and i completely forgot about this story... and all my stories . promise ill be back to updating now... well this one anyway ^-^ <strong>


	8. Chapter 8

The next morning I woke up bright and early full of energy, I had to admit I was excited to make something for them and I had thought of the perfect thing to. The second I was dressed I headed to the kitchen to grab something quick to eat, I had nearly finished when Gaara and Kankuro got up.

"You're up early" Kankuro yawned walking to the fridge

"I was too excited to sleep" I giggled

"For what?"

"It's a secret"

"You're keeping more secrets" Gaara asked

"Don't worry this one is a good secret, oh that reminds me, what's a genin?"

"A low level ninja" Kankuro explained

"Low level... what level are you two?"

"I'm a Jōnin" Kankuro said

What's that?"

"Pretty much were one level below the kage"

"And that would be Gaara?"

"You got it"

"Is that why you don't wear a headband? Because you're a kage?"

"Gaara hasn't worn one for a while now; it's not something you have to wear just most ninjas do"

"oh ok, if I were a ninja I would wear one every day, just like this one" I said reaching up to my head only to find it wasn't there "oh, I guess I left it in my room... oh well probably a good thing for today"

"You a ninja?" Kankuro scoffed

"Gaara you think I could be a ninja right?"

"Perhaps, if you were born in this world"

I pulled my tongue out at Kankuro before standing up "I'll see you both later tonight ok"

I headed straight into town and saw Anya sitting outside waiting for me; once she saw me she ran towards me and pulled me inside. Her mum was nice and extremely helpful, after I told her what I wanted to do she got everything I would need and helped me whenever there wasn't a customer. Over the course of the morning all the others showed up to, even the boys that said they would never go near dolls. They all seemed like such good friends and I had to admit being around them made me feel like a little kid again and we all had lots of fun.

"There I think I'm done" I sighed sitting back

"Their very good, it's too bad you're leaving you would have made a fine student" her mum told me patting my shoulder

"Really you think so? That means a lot thankyou"

I looked over at the other table where the others were busy working on something; they had been working on something all day and wouldn't let me see.

"What are you guys working on over there anyway?" I asked standing up

"YOU CAN'T LOOK YET!" a few of them shouted trying to cover their work

"It's getting late, your parents will be wondering where you are" Anya's mum told them

"But mum were not done yet..."

"Ayaka when are you leaving?"

"Well... 2 days maybe"

"See, I'm sure she will be able to spare a few minutes to come back when you're done"

"Wait you're making something for me?"

"It's a surprise" Cryo said

"... I know I will still be here tomorrow so why don't I come over around noon? Is that enough time for you to finish?"

They all huddled around and whispered to each other for a little bit, after they all agreed that was enough time a thought crossed my mind.

"Great, I'll see you all tomorrow then; oh but first I need you all to write down something you really like, an animal or an object ok?"

"Why?" Daichi asked

"It's a surprise" I told him with a wink

After getting the list from them I put it into a brown paper bag with the dolls then headed out waving goodbye to them, they were such good kids, they reminded me of a time before I was the avatar, before people started treating me different. It's not that I minded, it was part of the job and I got to travel the world, how many people can say that? And it's not like I don't have fun still but the more I train the harder those days are to remember.

"I should find something for Meiko tomorrow..." I mumbled to myself

I stopped outside the house feeling a little sad, this might be the last night I spend here, pushing those thoughts aside I opened the door with a smile.

"I'm back!" I called out

I heard noises in the kitchen so I headed towards it but before I could even round the corner I was trapped in some kind of sand bubble.

"Gaara what did you do!"

"You said she couldn't find out" he said sounding extremely calm

"I didn't say to trap her in your sand"

"What other way was there?"

"You could have distracted her!" Kankuro shouted

"I have" he replied still extremely calm

"You guys realise I can still hear you right?"

Everything went silent for a minute before I felt the sand under me move, I nearly lost my balance and had to steady myself by holding onto the sand wall but that quickly vanished and I fell to the ground.

"Ouch" I muttered sitting up

I looked around and noticed I was back outside and Gaara was standing out here with me, I picked myself up dusting away the sand then started to rock on my heels.

"So what's going on?"

"I am not allowed to tell you"

"You're keeping a secret from me?"

"Kankuro insisted"

"Ah so he is the master mind huh? Well as long as were stuck out here let's talk... how was your day?"

"Fine"

"... I had a good day"

He didn't say anything back and I started to get worried, it never has been easy to talk to Gaara but before he would latest say more than 5 word sentences to me.

"Gaara... have I..." I started to say

"You can come in" Kankuro cut in standing in the door way

Gaara walked past Kankuro and into the house, I followed after him holding onto the paper bag tightly feeling a little sad that I was so close to leaving and this is how things were.

"What's in the bag?" Kankuro asked me

"It's a surprise" I told him "oh I was wondering if you could help me with something later"

"I was going to work on my puppets tonight, ask Gaara" he waved off

As I walked into the house the smell of food reached me as I started to become extremely hungry.

"You cooked dinner?" I asked looking up at Kankuro

He didn't say anything and walked into the kitchen, I walked in after him only to see enough food to feed probably everyone in the village. There were so many things I didn't even know what they were but it all looked and smelt great.

"But... how?"

"Well this might be you're last night and we thought we should do something... this was actually Gaara's idea"

"Gaara?"

I looked towards Gaara who was sitting down looking away from me but he seemed to be smiling slightly.

"Well in that case I have something for you two as well, I was going to wait until I left but now seems like a good time"

I placed the bag on the table and was about to pull out their presents when I stopped and looked up at them.

"You have to close your eyes and no cheating"

With a few grumbles they eventually did as they were told, I sat down each ragdoll in front of them before going back to where I left the bag.

"Ok you can open your eyes now"

They opened their eyes and just started down at them, Gaara picked his up first looking it over while Kankuro just pointed at it.

"What is this?"

"It's you... or at least a mini you, I wanted to make you both something so I made you each a mini you. Miss Nodika said that a doll is meant to be more than a play toy, it's meant to reflect a person's soul or something like that and I care about you both very much so I made mini you and mini Gaara"

"I like mine... it's... cute" Gaara said quietly running his finger over the love heart

Without glasses it was hard enough getting the stitching right but a word was impossible so instead I just put a heart on his forehead.

"I guess they are pretty good... when did you get time to make these anyway?" Kankuro asked picking his up

"I did it today, I ran into some children yesterday and they gave me the idea, one of their mum owns a shop that makes dolls so she helped me a lot"

"You did both of these in one day?" Gaara asked looking up at me

"Yeah, and I have the hands to prove it" I laughed holding up my hands covered in small bandages

I heard a small chuckle and looked towards Kankuro who was holding his hand out with his puppet moving around.

"How are you doing that?"

"Charka strings, you won't be able to see them but there strings connecting the puppet to my fingers, it's how I move them. Anyway everything is getting cold, let's start" he said as the doll walked back towards him before falling limb once more.


	9. Chapter 9

After dinner Kankuro left saying he had to work on something leaving only Gaara to help me, I didn't want to bother him, he already seemed like he was in a bad mood but I didn't have much choice.

"Gaara..."

"What is it?"

"I was wondering... I mean it's ok if you don't want to but I was wondering if you could help me with something"

"And that is?"

I grabbed the paper out of the bag and handed it to Gaara; he took a quick glance at it before placing it on the table in front of him.

"I don't really know what some of those things are... so I was hoping you could explain it to me"

"Why?"

"So I can make them out of rock... I know it's nothing great but I only have until tomorrow afternoon and I wanted it to be something I did so... could you help me?"

"Very well"

In the end he had to end up showing me what a few things were with his sand, apparently I was useless, or so he told me many times over. It took a lot longer than I thought it would, again he said it was because I was useless, but I didn't mind, it was fun and I got to spend time with Gaara.

"Why are you making these?" he asked picking up the flower

"I told you how I met some children right? Well I found out they were making me something so I wanted to return the favour" I explained with a small smile "they are so kind and they really cheered me up when I was feeling sad"

"You were sad?" he asked looking at me "was it something Kankuro did?"

"Why would you think it was Kankuro?" I asked with a small giggle

"The other night when you and him went outside to talk..."

"I already told you about that didn't I? Kankuro knew something was up so we went outside to talk"

"You said he demanded an answer out of you"

"oh... well yeah he did but he didn't hurt me or anything he just reminded me of reality but I still have all day tomorrow to enjoy this place so I'm not going to spend it being sad about leaving, I want to have the best day ever or at least a really good day I don't know what I'm going to do yet but I'm sure I will think of something"

"What would make it the best day?" he asked looking at the ground

"Well... I don't know really, oh maybe you and I could have lunch together or something? I know you're busy and I wouldn't want to take you away from you're kazekage duties... well maybe I could bring you something to eat then?"

He didn't say anything to me but that's ok even if he was too busy I still had Kankuro to pester all day, I gathered up all the rock figurines then stood up with a small yawn.

"Well anyway, thank you for helping me Gaara and if I don't see you in the morning then I hope you have a good day"

After that I headed into my room leaving the bag on the bedside table then crawled into bed quickly falling asleep. I woke up fairly early the next morning still extremely tired, I thought about going back to sleep but I heard people awake so I forced myself out of bed. I had fallen asleep in my clothes the night before and I couldn't be bothered with my hair so I just stagged out of the room, the first thing I noticed was Gaara was still here, I would have sworn I heard him leave already but there he was sitting on the lounge.

"Oh good morning Gaara... I thought you already left"

"Kankuro left not long ago"

"... and you're still here?" I asked waking up a little

"There isn't much I need to do today"

"You're skipping out on work? Either there's something you really don't want to do there or there's something you really want to do here and considering you're just sitting there I'm thinking you're dodging something"

"I was waiting for you to wake up"

"Why?" I asked getting a little nervous

He stood up and I noticed he was in his kazekage robe wearing some kind of blue one underneath, it was the first time I had actually seen him wear something other than his normal clothing, and for the first time I noticed he had a funny looking hat somehow connected to his back.

"You're going out like that?"

I couldn't help but frown slightly; flattery was not one of his strong points.

"I didn't know I was going out"

"Once you are ready we will leave"

"Right..."

"You have 5 minutes"

_"So much for once I'm ready"_

"Yeah ok I'm going"

Once I was in the room I realised I didn't have anything else to wear, Temari had only two shirts that worked on me and that was the one I was currently wearing and the one I was meant to wash yesterday. I had just opened my door so I could go tell Gaara I had to wash my clothes first when I noticed the door to his room was slightly opened.

_"Kankuro did say we were about the same size..." _I thought with a smirk

As quietly as I possibly could I snuck into his room, it was the first time I had ever stepped foot in or near his room before. I don't know what I expected but I don't think I expected it to be so neat, from little I saw of Kankuro's room he had things all over his floor but Gaara's was spotless. I looked around for a second before I spotted his draws; still sneaking I crept towards them slowly pulling the third draw down open. Neatly folded in an almost obsessive way were his pants, I pulled a pair out then searched in the other draws until I found his shirts, I found a plain black singlet then quietly left the room.

Once I was sure he hadn't heard me I quickly got changed, the pants and shirt were a little long but I just rolled the very bottom of the pants up so I wouldn't walk on them then I put my shoes and my bat hat before heading out to meet Gaara. I expected him to still be in the living room but he was nowhere in sight, knowing how impatient he was I pulled the front door open poking my head out a little finding him leaning on the side of the house.

"Are you finally ready?"

"Sure... mind telling me where were going first?"

"Where do you want to go?"

"Well I did want to look around for something I could give my sister..."

"Let's go then" he said walking away

"Wait a second, if were going into town I should bring the presents with me just in case"

I quickly ran back inside to grab the bag before heading out with Gaara, I was surprised he hadn't noticed that I was wearing his clothing or if he did that he was acting so calm about it, I guess he wasn't like Kankuro when it came to clothes.

"What did you have in mind?"

"What?"

"For your sister"

"Oh right... well I don't know really"

"Let's start in there" he said pointing to a small toy store

Things were a little weird to start out with but after looking in a couple of stores the mood lightened up and I was having fun, not sure about him but he didn't seem to angry yet. everywhere we went we were always met with the same reaction 'welcome kazekage sir' and then they would hide away avoiding us, I figured it had something to do with the demon Naruto said he used to carry but what I didn't understand is if they were so afraid of him why was he kazekage? But that didn't really matter; there were lots of things here that I didn't understand.

By the time lunch came around I had yet to find anything, there were lots of things here but nothing that really caught my attention. Gaara tried his best to help but most of what he choose was a weapon of some kind and I wasn't going to give my little sister something she could poke her eye out with. In the end I found a metal circle a little larger than my hand with a symbol of the 5 lands of this world so with that sorted I decided I should head to Anya's house. I knocked on the door then stepped back with a smile while Gaara remained the same as ever, Anya's mum was the one who opened the door, she had the same reactions of the others around town when she noticed Gaara next to me but still she greeted me with a smile.

"Did I come too early?"

"They have been waiting for you, please come in"

She opened the door and I pulled Gaara inside, we followed Anya's mum as she lead us though the house to the back yard where everyone was playing.

"Ayaka you're here!" a couple of the girls shouted noticing me

"I bought a friend with me I hope that's ok"

They were all running towards me when they stopped suddenly as Gaara stood calmly next to me.

"You're the kazekage" Daichi gasped "this is so cool! I'm actually standing in front of the kazekage!"

_"I guess there too young to be afraid of him..."_

"Is he you're boyfriend?" Anya smirked at me

"Boy-boy-boy-boy" I stuttered blushing

"Look her face is all red" Kona giggled

"I have presents!" I shouted holding out the bag in front of me

"We have one for you to but you have to close your eyes ok" Anya ordered

Daichi grabbed holding of my wrist and sat me down on the ground where I was meant to sit with my eyes closed.

"Kazekage sir can you make sure she doesn't look?" Noda asked

I didn't hear Gaara say anything but I guess he nodded or something because they all ran off inside.

"Their nice aren't they?"

"For children I guess they aren't too bad but nice won't win the coming war"

"But still... I think it's nice that even though you don't live in a peaceful world the children can still find something to laugh and smile about"

Before he could answer me the kids came running out, I felt Gaara move to my side as they all stopped directly in front of me.

"Ok you can look now"

I opened my eyes and saw them holding out a robe a lot like Gaara's but black, then they turned it inside shouting 'tada' reviling many different things sowed to it, there was a likeness of each person then other things like the Suna symbol and weapons and many other things covering it.

"You did all of this?"

"We just made the patches, mum put them on the robe" Anya explained

"I love it"

The second they handed it to me I stood up putting it on, it was a perfect fit but completely different from Gaara's. This one was made from a different kind of material making it lighter but also colder which didn't matter being in the desert, it would be perfect if I ever travel in the sun for a long time and don't want to get burnt.

"Now it's time for your presents"

After handing them out one by one they all thanked me, Anya's mum came out at that moment announcing that lunch was ready.

"Oh yeah, Gaara what are we going to do for lunch?"

"You could have lunch with us" Kyra offered

"Well it's up to Gaara..."

"Ok" he said with a slight sigh

After a very embarrassing lunch with everyone obsessed with Gaara and I being a couple we said goodbye and headed out. It was still fairly early, too early to go home especially since with all the leftover food we had I didn't have to cook anything so instead we just wandered around slowing leaving Suna behind us. Eventually we found ourselves on a kind of cliff thing over looking Suna, for a desert town it was quiet pretty. I sat down with my feet dangling over the edge while Gaara stood behind me, if I didn't know better I would think he was going to push me or something but watching him stand there it was like a proud armadillo lion watching over her cubs.

"Now that I'm up here I don't know if I can make it back down" I said with a slight giggle "I never realised how tired I was until I actually stopped for a moment"

"You don't have to smile for my sake"

"Where did that come from?" I asked leaning my head back too look up at him

"You have been tired since this morning, even last night I noticed it"

"Well sure, yesterday was a busy day as was today, of course I'm tired"

"You have been slow"

"What's your point" I frowned

"Why are you forcing yourself to stay?"

"I'm not forcing anything" I sighed

_"Why does it always sound like he wants me to leave?"_

"It's like when you first wake up and you can still see the shadows from your dreams, the longer you try to hold onto it the quicker it fades away but if you let it go then whether it be a few minutes or a few hours it will come back to you... so I thought that maybe if I stop forcing myself to stay and worrying about when I might leave then it wouldn't be as painful. I know it's silly but I have felt much better, I may be tired and a little slow but I'm not in pain, I feel like I could stay for at least another week even though I know for certain that tomorrow I'll be going home" I explained smiling at him

"Tomorrow"

"Yep, so until then you're stuck with me"

"You have time to wash my clothes and put them back where they belong then" he said with a small smirk

I looked up at him a little surprised but I guess I shouldn't have been, of course he would have noticed so instead I laughed and sat up properly to look at the town that almost seemed to glisten in the sun.


	10. Chapter 10

I started to shiver as the sun set, it got cold so fast out here at night and this coat really wasn't that warm once the cold came in.

"Are you cold?"

"A little, guess we should head back then" I sighed standing up

As I stood up I felt something hitting my shoulders, I put my hand on my shoulder and grabbed hold of the material pulling it in front of me only to see it was Gaara's robe, I turned around to face him but he had his back to me.

"You can have it"

"You just want me to wash it don't you" I giggled

"I meant you can take it with you... when you leave"

"Really? But isn't this important?"

"I can get another; you said you liked it right?"

"Right..." I sighed

"If you don't want it you don't have to take it"

"No I do it's just..."

"Just what?" he asked facing me "your face is red again"

Gaara slowly started to back away from me; I guess after last time I can see why he would be worried.

"Don't worry I won't kiss you again" I giggled "hey show me a jutsu, something cool"

"Why would I do that" he huffed

"Because, your face is red to"

"No its not!"

It wasn't but the more I walked towards him claiming it was the redder it got, which I found extremely funny. In the end Gaara showed me a jutsu but as I sat down feeling extremely dizzy I was wishing he hadn't shown, he had encased me in his sand then just as quickly it was gone and we were standing in the living room, well he was standing anyway.

"I think you left my stomach behind" I groaned

"What's going on?" Kankuro asked walking into the house

"Gaara tried to kill me"

"He did?"

"No I didn't"

"Right... so who's hungry?"

I couldn't eat much that night, I told them it was because Gaara left my stomach behind but I just wasn't hungry, I was too tired to eat so I ended up going to bed much earlier than the others. I didn't wake up until I smelt food cooking the next morning, well it turns out it was actually lunch cooking and even though I hadn't eaten all day or the night before hand I still wasn't very hungry.

"You have to eat something" Kankuro told me

"I have, I had a late breakfast that's why I'm not hungry" I lied forcing a smile "I'm going to sit down for a bit... unless you need me to do something?"

"I'm going out for a bit" he said walking out the house

I sat on the couch planning on just resting when I felt my body drift off to sleep, I tried fighting it but it was no use, I was so tired. I heard Kankuro come back and call out my name but I didn't have the strength to answer him then I heard another voice.

"She's over here" Gaara called out

"Is she... I mean I didn't think her body would stay"

"She's still breathing... Ayaka, open your eyes" he ordered me

"Maybe we should let her rest..."

"No!" Gaara shouted

"Gaara..."

"She's not done, not yet" he mumbled

_"Gaara.."_

I forced myself to move, he was right, I wasn't ready to leave, not without a proper goodbye, not like this.

"Can't a girl rest peacefully?" I groaned opening my eyes

"We thought you..." Kankuro started to say

"Well good thing I woke up then, I don't know if I would forgive you if you buried me... or worse" I giggled sitting up

"Are you ok?" Gaara asked

"Yeah, just tired... wait you're meant to be at work right?"

"I got him, you think I couldn't see something was wrong" Kankuro scoffed with a small smile

"So what do you want to do? It's not often you're both here"

"You should rest" Gaara told me standing up

"If I rest now... no doing something sounds much better"

Neither one said anything, Kankuro started to rub the back of his head while he looked around the room while Gaara stood there with his arms folded and his eyes closed.

"Well... what do you do for fun then?"

"Upgrade my puppets" Kankuro said

"I don't have fun" Gaara stated

I knew lots of different kinds of game but more than half of them required bending and the others required me to move around a lot so with a sigh I slumped down in the chair.

"Well if we can't play games then let's tell stories like Kankuro, when did you first discover you're obsession with puppets" I smirked

"HEY!"

In the end we watched a movie, I always did wonder what the black box was for, I don't remember a lot of it, I tried staying awake I really did but I kept drifting of.

"Ayaka" Gaara spoke softly shaking my shoulders "you should go to bed"

I opened my eyes with a small yawn; I looked around me at Kankuro snoring quietly with his arms and legs hanging of the small chair and Gaara next to me with the softest expression I had even seen, well on him anyway.

"Gaara... thank you for everything, even though you were scary at first I'm glad I met you"

"You're leaving... aren't you?"

"Hey you're not meant to be sad remember"

"I'm not sad" he huffed pulling away from me

"There's the Gaara I remember" I giggled

"I'll wake Kankuro" he said standing

"Wait, just a little longer ok?"

"... Ok"

He sat back down and I slowly started to shift towards him lowering my head on his shoulder with a small sigh as his body stiffened.

"You won't forget me right?"

"How could I" he half groaned

"I wasn't that bad was I?"

He didn't answer that so with a small grumble I pulled myself up so I was standing.

"What are you doing?"

"Going to get changed, if I'm going home I should put my own clothes back on" I smiled "would you mind waking Kankuro for me?"

While I was getting changed I heard yelling, I didn't want to know how Gaara woke him up because by the sounds of the yelling he didn't just shake his shoulder or call his name. Once I was dressed I bundled up the gifts I was given and tucked them in my robe, I wasn't even too sure if this would work or not but I hoped it did. once I was ready I headed back out where Kankuro and Gaara were standing next to each other like they were about to salute me or something.

"Well.. I guess this is goodbye then"

"For a kid, you're not so bad" Kankuro said

"Thankyou... I think, look after yourself ok and go out and talk to people, how do you expect to meet a girl when all you do is fix you're puppets huh?" I frowned at him

"Hey I know plenty of girls! There's... What are doing?"

"Giving you a hug"

While he was talking I managed to sneak in and wrap my arms around Kankuro, he didn't exactly hug me back, more of an awkward pat on the back but I didn't mind.

"Take care ok?"

"Don't even think about it" Gaara said stepping back

"Oh come on, just one hug?"

"Fine" he grumbled

He didn't hug me back either, all he did was pat me on the head, seeing their reactions made me a little sad that I didn't try this earlier, it would have been lots of fun.

"I'm going to miss you... both of you" I smiled standing back "maybe I'll come back again one day?"

"As long as we have room" Kankuro smirked

"That's ok, I don't mind taking your bed" I giggled

"Get going already will you" he frowned

"You can come back... if you want to" Gaara half mumbled

"Maybe one day I will, who knows what the future will bring" I smiled at him "well... I'll see you around"

"Gah my head" I groaned sitting up

I heard a small roar near me then all of a sudden my face was covered in droll, after wiping my face with my sleeve I looked next to me and saw Fluffy standing there looking up at me.

"I guess I'm back then... it's good to see you Fluff, have you been good?"

He let out a small whine and I couldn't help but laugh, Fluffy and the monks didn't exactly get along, I guess it had something to do with him eating meat. Before I could even stand up the old monk came bursting in the room carrying things in his arms.

"You're back I just knew it"

"How?" I asked slightly puzzled

"These fell from the sky" he said showing me what he was holding

I quickly jumped up as I saw the two robes and the bat hat in his arms; I took them from him holding them close to me with a small smile.

"They did make it" I sighed happily

"You were out so long I thought I killed you"

I looked up at him raising my brow slightly, him saying that so calmly worried me.

"I had the most amazing adventure" I told him "everything was so different there!"

"Ah so you finally learned you're lesson then?"

"What lesson?" I asked blinking blankly

* * *

><p><strong>And that's it ^-^ yeah I know I kind of got a bit well... lame near the end, sorry about that... just been so long since i started it I kind of forgot the ending I had in mind lol<strong>


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